Johnny Depp out of Whitey Bulger movie over salary dispute

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“Black Mass,” the biopic about Boston mafioso Whitey Bulger, has lots its lead actor over a salary dispute.

The Hollywood Reporter says that Johnny Depp, who was slated to play the 17-year fugitive facing 19 counts of murder, was asked to take half his usual $20 million that he receives for a movie and he refused, bowing out of the film. The movie is an adaptation of the book “Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob.”

Reportedly, director Barry Levinson and the producers had a hard time selling the film at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, which caused them to try to cut the budget for the movie down. Currently, Joel Edgerton is still attached to the project as an FBI agent.

“Black Mass” is one of several Whitey Bulger projects in the works, with Ben Affleck and Matt Damon looking to put their own film together and Peter Facinelli reportedly adapting “Street Soldier: My Life as an Enforcer for Whitey Bulger and the Boston Irish Mob.”

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Posted by:Andrea Reiher

TV critic by way of law school, Andrea Reiher enjoys everything from highbrow drama to clever comedy to the best reality TV has to offer. Her TV heroes include CJ Cregg, Spencer Hastings, Diane Lockhart, Juliet O'Hara and Buffy Summers. TV words to live by: "I'm a slayer, ask me how."

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